Saturday 25 May
 
 

The Burning

It speaks to the strength of The Burning’s reputation among cult-film fans that what’s most memorable about the 1981 slasher is not that it was written by the Weinstein brothers, nor that it represents early appearances of the likes of Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens. It’s that its Cropsy is just a damned good villain.
05/24/2013 | Comments 0

Dexter: The Seventh Season

There's no way to discuss the seventh and penultimate season of Showtime's hit Dexter without acknowledging how the previous year ended. Therefore, if you haven't finished the sixth season, stop reading now. You've got work to do.
05/21/2013 | Comments 0

Nightfall

As Simon Lam gets older, he gets better. The veteran actor has appeared in such in seminal HK action films of the 1990s as Once Upon a Time in China (opposite Jet Li) and Bullet in the Head (directed by John Woo); in the aughts, he graced audience and critical favorites Election and Ip Man.
05/20/2013 | Comments 0

Grand Duel

Lee Van Cleef enjoyed a secondary career in Italy cranking out spaghetti Westerns, with little regard to quality. However, 1972’s Grand Duel — aka The Big Showdown — is deserving of its Grand label. No wonder Quentin Tarantino borrowed its sweeping theme song by Luis Bacalov for Kill Bill; you'll recognize it in two notes.
05/20/2013 | Comments 0

The Last Stand

Early in The Last Stand, the small-town sheriff played by Arnold Schwarzenegger says, "It's my day off. Should be a quiet weekend." That's the new way of saying, "I've got one week to retirement," because it signals — with flashing neon and everything — that life is going to royally upend those plans.
05/17/2013 | Comments 0
Home · Articles · Movies · Drama
Drama
 

The Descendants

Say ‘aloha’ to ‘The Descendants,’ a smart film about a fractured family that proves misery is as native to Hawaii as these contiguous states.


Drama

Rod Lott
Arriving with serious Oscar buzz, “The Descendants” is the oddest kind of road movie: one in which the roads don’t exist at all.
 
Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Take Shelter

Your forecast for ‘Take Shelter’: sustained tension with a 100 percent chance of palpable unease. Armpit precipitation possible.


Drama

Rod Lott
Rain the color and viscosity of fluids found in barrels at Jiffy Lube falls from the sky in the opening moments of “Take Shelter,” serving as a dark harbinger of things to come. Right out of the gate, this act of weird weather alerts the audience that something bad is going to happen, and the calm before the storm will be anything but serene.
 
Wednesday, November 2, 2011

‘Rum’ punchless

A tame Johnny Depp and disheveled script leave ‘The Rum Diary’ with a nasty hangover.


Drama

Matt Carney
Written by Hunter S. Thompson at 24, but unpublished until his early 60s, “The Rum Diary” was a fictionalized account of his besotted time in Puerto Rico, what in reality was a nine-month stint between gigs as a New York City journalist.
 
Wednesday, November 2, 2011

From tusk till brawn

Weird and winning, ‘Walrus’ makes sport of an arm-wrestling champion whose life gets turned topsy-turvy.


Drama

Rod Lott
Walrus
8 p.m. Saturday
City Arts Center
3000 General Pershing
cityartscenter.org
951-0000
$5
 
Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The Mill and the Cross

A centuries-old painting comes to life in the slow-going, but visually sumptuous ‘The Mill and the Cross.’


Drama

Rod Lott
The Mill And The Cross
5:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Oklahoma City Museum of Art
415 Couch
okcmoa.com
236-3100
$8
 
Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Restless

Love means never having to say you’re sorry to the audience, judging from the doomed drama ‘Restless.’


Drama

Rod Lott
Once in a blue moon, a film comes along so aptly titled. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I give you Exhibit A: “Restless.”
 
Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Life, Above All

In ‘Life, Above All,’ the impact of AIDS is rarely stated, but often heard.


Drama

Phil Bacharach

AIDS is rarely mentioned in “Life, Above All.” It’s referred to obliquely — a “bug,” “the other thing” — but its grim presence is always felt. When a character finally does call it by name, late in the movie, the effect is startling.

 
Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Higher Ground

Can she get an 'Amen'?


Drama

Rod Lott
Many Christians’ condemnation of Hollywood is that Hollywood output often condemns Christianity. “Higher Ground,” the directorial debut of actress Vera Farmiga (“Source Code”), is not one of those movies.
 
Wednesday, September 14, 2011

One Day


Drama

Phil Bacharach
“One Day” turns on a gimmick, chronicling the tumultuous, on-again/ off-again romance of two people by dropping in on them the same date — July 15 — each year. It’s a clever device, if not enough to disguise the fact that otherwise, this tearjerker is as old-fashioned as they come.
 
Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Poetry

South Korea’s award-winning ‘Poetry’ contains a lead performance so powerful, it transcends any boundaries of language.


Drama

Rod Lott
Poetry
5:30 and 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Oklahoma City Museum of Art
415 Couch
okcmoa.com, 236-3100
$8
 
Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Beginners

Telling the story of a dying widower who announces he’s gay, ‘Beginners’ comes out strong.


Drama

Kathryn Jenson White
Should you need motivation to make a life change and visit the great god Google for guiding thoughts on new starts, you’ll find pithy aphorisms aplenty.
 
Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Hat trick

‘Punch Cowboy’ has a winning recipe: equal parts comedy, drama and action, with loads of local talent added to the mix.


Drama

Rod Lott
8 p.m. Saturday
City Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing
cityartscenter.org, 951-0000
$5
 
Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The Tree of Life

Terrence Malick’s ‘The Tree of Life’ is destined to frustrate and bewilder — in a word, it’s amazing.


Drama

Phil Bacharach
For a vast understatement, let’s say “The Tree of Life” is an atypical summer movie.
 
Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Midnight in Paris

‘Midnight in Paris’ is not the comedic trip of a lifetime, but merely your average diversion from the oft-overrated Woody Allen.


Drama

Rod Lott
As I’ve wondered for nearly as long as I’ve watched his films, when does Woody Allen’s pass expire?
 
Wednesday, June 8, 2011

In a Better World

Don't miss this excellent Danish drama.


Drama

Rod Lott
It’s not for nothing “In a Better World” took home the Oscar and the Golden Globe this past awards season as the year’s best foreign-language film.
 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
 
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